A Titanic Heart
by Gamer95
Summary: Modern AU. Mikasa Ackerman is a soldier fighting the TITAN terrorist organization. One day, on her morning jog, she discovers a small child abandoned in an alleyway. She grows attached to the little boy, and takes it upon herself to care for him as much as she can. Will her duties interfere with her relationship with her son?
1. Chapter 1

A car was speeding down a street very late on a stormy night. To anyone that was out in the horrible, rainy weather, they would think that the car was normal and ignore it. But inside the trunk of this car, a very young child was curled up into a tight ball in fright as he whimpered in pain.

He was almost unrecognizable due to the blood that was caked all over his tiny, fragile body. He cringed as the car pulled to a stop. What was going to happen to him?

He had no more time to think before the trunk was pulled open, and he was roughly yanked out by his hair. He looked fearfully into the eyes of his uncle, who was sneering evilly at him.

"This is your stop, FREAK!" And with those words, Vernon threw Harry as hard as he could into a nearby alleyway. "I hope the thugs who linger around here get you good, brat." And with that, he got back into his car and drove off, leaving Harry to stagger weakly to his feet, the rain pouring down on him, soaking him down to the bone.

The little boy tried to limp out of the alley...but no matter how many times he got back up, he just kept falling. It took him half an hour to reach the mouth of the alley...then, he collapsed, and everything went black.

_The next day..._

The renowned soldier, Mikasa Ackerman, was taking her morning jog, taking the time alone to think about the recent activity of the TITAN terrorist organization... Or rather, lack thereof of activity. It was unnerving...The longer Titan took to strike, the more brutal their attacks turned out to be...

Mikasa had been so deep in thought, she had become unaware of her surroundings, but she eventually realized she was in a bad neighbourhood. She frowned slightly, then shrugged. It wasn't a big deal. She could take care of herself.

She returned to her previous thoughts on figuring out what the TITAN organization is up too until she notices something twitching and shaking at the opening of an alleyway twenty meters ahead of her. With a curious and confused look, she approached the unknown entity with caution just in case it was a wild dog or raccoon.

When she was close enough to identify who or what the thing was, she gasped when she saw a very beaten child that looked like he was at death's door. He looked up at her with a defeated expression as she rushed to him.

_'Who would do this to a child?'_ Mikasa thought to herself.

Harry was freezing and in absolute agony by the time the storm stopped and the morning sun rose. He was shivering and shaken as he laid at the mouth of the alley. _'This is it...I'm gonna die here...I never got to be loved...Just like I deserve...'_ Harry thought in defeat, accepting his fate. Harry heard a gasp and looked up to see a black haired woman looking at him with her hand over her mouth.

Without taking a moment to think about it, Mikasa scooped the little boy into her arms.

"Who did this to you?!" She demanded. Harry flinched and whimpered at her tone. Mikasa took a deep breath. "...Who did this to you?" She said in a much softer tone...but the damage was already done. She let out a sigh. Great...She had scared him, and wasn't likely to get any answers out of him now...Still, he needed medical attention...

_'Armin...' _She thought with a smile. Armin was the best medic she knew, and he had lots of free time due to TITAN's inactivity. Wordlessly, she turned out of the alley, the little boy held tightly in her arms, and ran for the base as fast as she could.

While Mikasa was running at top speed in determination to get Harry help, Harry was terrified. _'What is she going to do to me?' _Harry thought to himself as he pictured many different ways that she might try to harm him more then he already is. He wanted nothing more then to struggle and try to escape her grasp, but he was to weak to do anything at this point.

It tired the young woman out slightly, but she made it back to base in record time. She didn't slow down, however. She wasn't going to until the child was in Armin's capable hands-

**CRASH!**

Speak of the devil. Mikasa had crashed into Armin in her haste, causing both of them to fall on their seats.

And poor Harry had taken the brunt of the impact.

He let out a small whimper that Mikasa heard as pain exploded throughout his already battered body.

"Sorry young one." Mikasa quickly apologized as she rubbed his head. Harry felt her hand on his head and flinched until she started to gently rub it. Harry let out a small hum of delight in response.

Mikasa smiled slightly, then turned to see who she bumped into. Her expression became serious when she saw that it was Armin.

"Ow...Hi, Mikasa, what's the rush-" He froze when he saw Mikasa holding a child. Then his eyes widened when he saw the injuries on the child...

"Oh my God?! Mikasa what happened here?!" Armin asked with slight panic as he starts to examine Harry.

"I found him in an alley way like this while on my jog." Mikasa told him. Armin looked serious.

"We need to get him inside STAT!" Armin said as he gently took Harry out of Mikasa's arms and ran inside, towards the medical wing of the base. Mikasa ran after him and easily caught up to him. The two ran side by side.

_And so..._

"...How bad are they, Armin?" Mikasa asked. Armin turned to her with wide eyes.

"...He should be a vegetable...I mean...my God, these are some of the worst injuries I've seen in my life...And considering my line of work, that's saying something..."

Mikasa paled as Armin continued to explain Harry's condition.

"He has multiple lacerations, both new and what looks like happened a long time ago, signs of having his bones broken and not treated the right way, and it looks like he was in the rain last night for a few hours because he appears to have Hypothermia." Armin stated as he finished his diagnosis.

Armin looked at Mikasa with a grim expression. "It's a miracle he isn't dead."

Mikasa scowled angrily. It infuriated her that there were people out there willing to harm a child so gravely...but it didn't particularly surprise her either. She looked over at Harry to see that he was currently asleep. Wordlessly, she rose to her feet.

"...Where are you going?" Armin asked.

"I'm going to leave you to your job." She replied, not turning around.

Without another word, she left the room and turned left towards the kitchen area for coffee.

"What kind of monster would do this to someone that young!" Mikasa growled under her breath, not paying attention to what was in front of her. A few seconds later, she smashed right into some one and had to stop herself from falling to her butt.

"Are you okay Mikasa?" The person she crashed into said, causing her to look forward to see that it was her brother Eren. She blinked a few times and looked sheepish.

"Sorry, Eren. I wasn't looking where I was going." Mikasa apologized.

"Eh, no worries." Eren shrugged as he poured himself some coffee. "...Something wrong? You look a little down." Mikasa shook her head.

"It's a long story..."

"I've got time. It's not like we're actually doing anything, right?" Mikasa chuckled humourlessly, then spilled out everything that had happened that day. Eren looked at her with a glare, then shook his head. "Why do people do that to kids of all people?" He muttered.

"I don't know." Mikasa said with a neutral face as she poured herself some coffee for herself. They walked to one of the tables of the mess hall and sat down. They drank in silence for a moment until Eren spoke up.

"So what are you going to do with the kid?" Eren asked his sister.

Mikasa's eyes widened as she paused mid-sip. "...I'm...not sure, really..." Eren frowned.

"Well, we should probably try to figure that out." Mikasa nodded.

"...Okay...I'll find out who did this to him, and find out if he has any relatives. We'll try to get into contact with them, and then we'll send him to them."

They sat there for another hour before Armin came in looking haggard. He approached them and sat down, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"How is he Armin?" Mikasa asked. Armin breathed in and looked at her. "His injuries were worse then I originally estimated." Armin told them. Then, he started to smile. "But by the time I finished treating him, his injuries looked like they were already recovering. Plus with the equipment we have on hand at the moment, I would say that he should be fully recovered and out of there by the end of the week."

Mikasa let out a relieved sigh. "Thanks, Armin."

"Don't mention it." Armin shrugged. "Unfortunately, you can't see him right now, because he's asleep."

Mikasa sighed in exasperation. "Do you know when we will be able to talk to him? We need to find out who did this to him and where we can find someone related to him." Mikasa asked.

Armin shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry Mikasa, I don't know when he'll wake up. When he wakes up, he'll wake up." Armin explained as he got up. "I'm going to get some coffee and then I'll go back to the medical bay. If he wakes up I'll go find you as soon as I can." With that, Armin left them.

Mikasa looked down at her coffee, suddenly not too interested in drinking it.

She was confused, and worried for the child. She wanted to bring the one who did this to him to justice...

And then return him to the people that were no doubt missing him and very worried about him right this moment. Mikasa then rose to her feet. "I'm going for a walk." She told Eren as she walked out of the mess hall.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry groaned softly in his unconscious state, then sat up, wincing slightly in pain. Where was he...? The room he was currently in was white with multiple beds and smelled of disinfectant. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps. He turned towards the door to see a short, blonde haired young man with a cup of coffee in his hand. The man stopped in his tracks as he looked at Harry in surprise.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be awake yet." Armin told him. "Mikasa will definitely be happy to hear this." The man's words were lost to Harry as Harry started to back away and ended up falling off the bed and hitting the floor hard. Armin's eyes widened when Harry hit the floor. "Whoa, take it easy, little guy!" He exclaimed as he moved forward to help. Ignoring his pain, Harry backed away from Armin as much as he could and hit the wall. Seeing that he had no where else to run, Harry curled up into a ball and started to whimper, waiting for the beating to begin. Armin took a step forward to approach, before hesitating. He had a feeling making physical contact would only make things worse... While Armin was thinking about this, Harry was thinking about that woman that he met earlier. Had she left him? He wouldn't blame her if she did. He understood if she hated him. He hated himself too... That didn't stop a tear from falling from his eye.

"Minutes before"

Mikasa was irritated that she couldn't do more to help the child she found get back to his family. The only way she could get him back is if he told her where they were... She made it to a intersection that would lead her to the front door to the medical bay. She was about to turn left towards the entrance so she could go outside and walk but stopped herself. "Maybe I can check up on him before I go out." Mikasa said under her breath as she went straight towards the medical bay. As she got closer, however, she began to hear the sounds of a child's whimpering. This put her on high alert as she sped up to get to the medical bay faster, and to the child faster. When she entered, the first thing she saw was the little boy whimpering in the corner, curled up in a ball, and Armin looking completely at a loss for what to do. Armin noticed that she was in the doorway and ran over to her.

"Mikasa! Thank God..." He said. "I have no idea what to do to calm him down!"

Mikasa gave him a serious look. "What happened?" Mikasa asked him. Armin explained what happened when he walked in and how him touching the child would most likely make things far more worse. Mikasa raised a brow, then wordlessly moved towards Harry. When she was a foot from him, she knelt down and smiled at him. "Hello there" Mikasa said softly. "What's wrong little guy?" Harry tensed, then looked up to see the pretty black-haired woman from earlier.

Harry couldn't believe that she returned. 'I-I thought she left me!' Harry thought as he looked at her smiling face. "I-It's you..." The child breathed.

Mikasa nodded, smile still in place. "Yes, It's me." Mikasa told him.

The little boy sat up and looked at her. "I...I thought you left me...For being too freaky..."

Mikasa raised her eyebrow. "Why would I think you were freaky? You look normal to me."

Harry stared at her. "R-Really? You don't hate me?"

She shook her head. "Why would I? You're a wonderful child." Mikasa explained. Harry decided to remain silent at that, not wanting to bring up anything that could result in his uncle punishing him. Mikasa reached out and picked up Harry, surprising him. "How about we get you off the floor." Mikasa stated as she placed him on the bed he was sleeping on earlier. Harry blinked as the young woman placed the blankets up to his chin and sat in a chair next to his bed. He looked at her with his wide, curious green eyes. Mikasa smirked slightly. "Do you have a name?"

Harry blinked then started to fumble on his words. "I-I'm H-H-Harry." Harry told her.

"Hello, Harry. I'm Mikasa."

"Hi Miss M-Mikasa." Harry greeted. Mikasa frowned at the stutter. He seemed so nervous...

Mikasa then smiled to hide her frown. "So how are you feeling?" Mikasa questioned.

"B-Better..." Harry replied softly. "M-My arm kinda hurts..."

Mikasa looked at the arm. "I'll have Armin look at it in a little bit." Mikasa told him. Harry looked nervous, then nodded, not wanting to anger her. She saw that he looked nervous and grasped his hand with hers then started to rub the back of his hand with her thumb. "Don't worry. You can trust him." She said encouragingly. Harry felt his nervousness about Armin decrease from her reassurance and touch.

Armin was watching this happen from the sidelines. He couldn't help but smile at how easy Mikasa was able to get Harry to calm down and talk to him. He stepped up. "Um, hello." Armin said to get their attention. They both stopped their conversation to look at him. "I couldn't help but hear that Harry's arm still hurts...would you like me to take a look at it now?" Armin asked. Mikasa looked at him, then turned to Harry with a questioning look, asking for his opinion. Harry looked nervous but nodded his head.

Mikasa smiled. "Want me to stay with you while he does it?" It took him a second to start nodding his head fast, wanting nothing else but for her to be with him. Mikasa let out a soft laugh, which surprised Armin greatly. "Alright, I'll be with you the whole time, you don't have to worry." Mikasa reassured him, making Harry smile.

"That's the first I've heard you laugh in...like, ever..." Armin said to Mikasa.

Mikasa looked at Armin in shock. "Yeah...I guess it's been a long time..."

"You've been so cold and distant for the past few years..." Armin mused as he looked over Harry's arm.

"Yeah..." Mikasa said as she remembered what exactly caused her to become cold. Three years ago, three of their former comrades: Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, and Annie Leonhardt betrayed them for the Terrorist group, Titan. The news that three of their fellow soldiers whom been with them since their cadet days had betrayed them affected her greatly. She started pushing herself since then to be able to bring them to justice.

"All right, just a minor sprain...Nothing major, it should heal in a few days. It's a miracle how quickly he's recovering from all of this..." Armin said.

Mikasa shook her head to shake off the memories. "Thank you Armin, that's great to hear." Mikasa told him.

"Now that begs the question of what to do with him after he's recovered..."

"Well...I was going to take him back to his family, they must be worried about him." Mikasa told Armin, missing the shocked look on Harry's face.

"NO! PLEASE DON'T TAKE ME BACK TO THEM! PLEASE DON'T, I'LL DO ANYTHING-" Harry covered his mouth, eyes wide as he realized he had had an outburst. Mikasa's and Armin's head immediately snapped to him in surprise, not thinking a child that shy would yell out like that. "I'm sorry..." Harry whimpered. "I'm sorry..." He hugged his knees and curled up in the fetal position, mumbling his apologies nonstop. Mikasa felt a pang in her chest as she watched Harry act like this. Without warning, she hugged Harry and rubbed the back of his head. Harry clutched tightly to her uniform, still mumbling his apologies. She started to make soothing noises and tell him that everything was going to be okay. Gradually, he began to calm down, only saying "I'm sorry" once every ten seconds. His face was now buried in Mikasa's chest, and his tiny shoulders were shaking as he clutched at the brown jacket of her uniform.

All she could do was continue what she was doing to calm him down. 'What caused him to react that way?' Mikasa thought to herself as Harry finally calmed down.

"Harry...Why are you so afraid?" Mikasa asked.

"I...I'm sorry...I can't tell you... I'm sorry...Sorry, sorry, sorry..."

Seeing that he was about to start his apology mantra, Mikasa placed her finger on his mouth to stop him. "Shh, it's alright, you don't need to tell us now if you don't want to." Mikasa told him.

Harry took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded. "Thank you, Miss Mikasa..."

"No need for Miss. Mikasa's just fine." Mikasa replied warmly.

"I'm sor-"

She quickly placed her finger on his lips again. "You don't need to apologize, it's alright." Mikasa stated as his stomach rumbled.

She blinked, then smiled warmly. "Let's get you something to eat, okay?"

"Okay, mis-Mikasa! Mikasa..." She smiled as she picked him up and left the room, followed by Armin who was frowning.

'I have to find out why he reacted that way...There has to be a reason...'


End file.
